Ralph Nader Blasts

High Court Nominee

Activist Jabs White House Counsel At Breyer Hearings

July 16, 1994|The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Stephen Breyer was extolled by the American Bar Association and numerous scholars testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday. But the staid hearings erupted when consumer activist Ralph Nader denounced Breyer and then set his sights on White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler.

"Lloyd Cutler is at large in the White House," said Nader about the powerful lawyer who had a strong hand in Breyer's nomination. Before Nader had finished testifying, Cutler had fired off a letter to the committee responding to Nader.

None of Friday's events appeared to change the broad support given to Breyer, a former chief counsel of the committee. A committee vote on President Clinton's successor to Justice Harry A. Blackmun could come as early as next week, Senate aides said.

Nadar accused Breyer, a 14-year veteran of a federal appeals court in Boston, of "a pronounced inclination to favor corporations" over small businesses and individuals.

Nader, one of 21 witnesses who testified on Friday, also told the senators that Breyer's approach in environmental cases "belittles hazards and exaggerates costs."

Breyer, who was not present, had testified earlier that his goal in economic cases is to keep prices low and protect consumers. He had stressed that in his approach to health and safety regulation he tries to keep an eye on human needs, not only cost efficiencies.

Most senators at Friday's hearing defended Breyer and referred to the nominee's testimony.

The American Bar Association gave Breyer its highest rating on Friday.

In regard to Cutler, Nader condemned him for retaining his relationship with his corporate law firm while serving as the president's counsel.

In a response faxed to the committee, Cutler wrote: "Mr. Nader has made it a practice to advance his public policy views by demonizing some person or entity on the other side of the issue. Unfortunately for me, I have long been one of his favorite targets."

Cutler, who came to the White House in March, said his arrangement with his law firm and the administration complies with ethical guidelines.

During less fiery testimony on Friday, Paige Comstock Cunningham, president of Americans United for Life, said that the anti-abortion group thinks Breyer is flawed because, she said, he presumably supports abortion. During his testimony, Breyer endorsed Supreme Court rulings upholding abortion rights.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who opposes abortion, said that a single issue should not stop someone from serving on the Supreme Court.